I Am Starting From Here

Hello Bay Riders!

We are coming up on four months until The 2026 Bay Ride, on August 29th.

For the past 11 years I get a lot of questions about what my training plan looks like. Each year is different, from work commitments to family responsibilities, and it's harder and harder to simply find the time. We do have a coach available to help with training if you're interested, or check out the official training plan.

Starting today I'm going to start sharing my training journey as we lead up to The 2026 Bay Ride. Real time updates will primarily be shared on Instagram at @thebayride and the Strava Club.

The 2026 Bay Ride is on August 29th, 2026. We sell out every year and will have a hard cap at 1000, sign up soon.

Sign up: thebayride.com/register

Jason

The numbers

• FTP (today): 216W
• FTP (peak): 295W (July 2022)
• FTP (last time I had it): 291W (March 2024), basically peak, 2 years ago
• Weight: 209.8 lbs
• BMI: 26.2 (just over the "overweight" line)
• Body fat: 17.5%
• W/kg (today): 2.27
• Goal weight: ~199 lbs

I have a long way to go to get to under 200, but this is where we start from.

What the chart actually says

Every dot is a ride with a power meter. 724 of them. Peloton indoor workouts in blue, outdoor Strava rides in yellow. The orange line is FTP tests, which is the wattage you can hold for about an hour. Seven of those across Peloton and Zwift.

• July 2022: 295W. Peak. I was riding a lot.
• June 2023: 188W. First Zwift test. Felt like starting over.
• March 2024: 291W. A full year of work. Basically back to peak.
• May 2024: 246W. The comeback stalled.
• January 2025: 218W. Detraining again.
• August 2025: 225W. Tiny bump, mostly flat.
• April 2026 (today): 216W. Here we are.

The story is not "I used to be fit." The story is that I had peak fitness again in March 2024 and then life got in the way. Twice. The volume scatter shows why: the fat yellow band of outdoor training in 2014 through 2017 never came back. Since 2022, it has been spikes of effort between long flat stretches.

What happens next

I am going to share my training journey for the first time. FTP tests. Ride volume. What training looks like when you are also running an event, a startup, and a household. Honest numbers, including the weeks I skip.

The goal by the Bay Ride this year is simple: ride the full 135 miles feeling strong, not surviving. That probably means getting FTP back into the 250s and keeping consistent volume through the spring and summer. I have done it before. Recently. I can do it again.

If you want to see how it goes, follow along. If you want to ride with me, there is an easy way to do that.